Very much agreed on that last point. It’s not really canonical, but in “Daleks’ Invasion Earth” the daleks just slap mind controlling helmets on humans. Seems far more effective. The genetic argument explanation also doesn’t make much sense, given they wanted to turn merge daleks and humans. Why are pigs even involved? We also never got an explanation for why there was random glowing green goop in the sewers.
The eternal encyclopaedia tells me that “Hoovervilles” were not a single shanty town in New York, but formed all over the US. One of them was indeed in central park. I do like when historic DW episodes educate me about something.
This episode definitely had some promise as an exploration of class. The piecemeal offer of work for poor folk is basically what we in modern times call the “gig economy”. I’d argue this part of the story is more interesting than anything involving aliens.
But then it also has daleks. And pig men. I’m really not sure why they needed the pig men. The pig men masks are pretty well done, far better than the weird human dalek thing, which just looks like a parody of doctor who rather than something scary.
Some things come to mind:
Why though? I genuinely don’t know what the use case is here. If you have a bookshelf it already has your books on it, you could take a photo of that. If you wanted a list of book recommendations, a text list would be more useful.
Agreed on the martha stuff. I enjoyed that she called it out as a rebound date, the doctor needed to hear that, though this should have been the moment she stops the crush altogether.
This is a really good episode, it has everything. Multiple good sci fi concepts, horror stories of tech gone wrong and the social impact, great direction, loads of emotive acting, and a great soundtrack.
Throughout the episode we get some really nice writing. At the start doctor’s poetic description of gallifrey gives us a sense of optimism and hope that is bookended really well with the fade out at the very end of the episode. There are multiple lines throughout that end up hinting at the face of boe - brannigan’s joke about a giant head, martha relying on a complete stranger. Hologram Sally’s “we’re so sorry” line echoes the doctor’s catchphrase and you think it’s about the non-functional motorway jam, when it is in fact an apology that they’re the only ones left alive.
The acting and character work is excellent. At the beginning, when they open the tardis door, the doctor appears to break something which is a lovely bit of business that makes their trip seem genuine and unplanned. Martha’s distraught expressions throughout, while still maintaining her competence as a smart person - caring about a pregnant woman and her idea to run silently. Tennant looks incredibly emotive during the doctor’s sad story at the very end. Despite having no real actor present, the face of boe is voice acted really well.
Effects wise, I did find the CGI a bit jarring, and the macra monsters were particularly bad. With the lack of a joke about carcinization, I feel it might have worked better as a lovecraftian unseen monster. But then we get a lot of really great practical effects like very good cat makeup, and close ups of the face of boe that don’t make his head look like just a lump of plastic.
I love the cars as a way to showcase the claustrophobia of both non-functional transport, we’ve all been trapped on a delayed bus or train or plane at some point, but also the limits of technology. Only being able to contact people on your friends list, and being trapped in confined lanes, every car homogeneous. The rumours of hope. The denial. I do have some quibbles though - if the system is automated, why are they even sitting at a steering wheel. And given all the exhaust fumes, they must be getting fuel, but from where?
Really enjoy this episode.
I was anticipating the painful jk jokes. I do think that the ‘just wait until you read book 7’ line was actually a really good sci fi time travel joke. But aside from the obvious association with Rowling, it also dates the show unnecessarily because it picked a book that was obviously going to be released at some point.
This is an odd episode, it feels like it could have been more than it was. The focus on magic feels a lot like the approach taken in the latest series, and I think there’s definitely something there but I’m still not quite sure what the witches were meant to be doing.
The witches themselves felt to cartoony. The makeup looked far too stereotypical, and the hissing and gesturing reminded me in a bad way of the early depictions of ferengi as these weird cave goblins rather than scheming powerful beings.
Martha has the opportunity to be great in this episode. Shes even presented as very cultured enjoying theatre. but after the episode briefly touches on medicine of the time, bedlam, even race, theres not a whole lot there. She does get a few med community jokes in like “I work the late shift”, which is a nice way to set her to as less squeamish than some other companions.
Some parts are alright. Tennant is a Shakespeare actor so it’s fun watching it in kind of a meta way. The general concept of language and magic as an alternative to science is good, and I did like the doctor trying to hide that fact to prevent unrest when the man drowns. We get introduced to another of 10s upset royals, which is a nice running joke. A line or two imply that Shakespeare may be bi, which feels on topic. The CGI scenes are decent.
But none of these things are given a lot of time to shine as the central important part of the episode. So a lot going on, but maybe not enough of a focus for the episode.
thanks, I hate it